LORD BELIAL - Kiss The Goat LP (Pink Vinyl)

Comes in a glossy gatefold jacket.
Limited to 250 on pink vinyl.

It's a bit presumptuous, but it can be pretty safely argued that any album is as much a product of its time as it is of its place of origin. Hearing an album from the northern reached of Europe of the blackened variety during the mid 90s brings with it some obvious implications, but more so with regards to the when than the where. It's pretty well a given that with the close of the Norwegian 2nd wave circa 1994 that most early offerings thereafter would not stray too far from the established paradigm, and Lord Belial's 1995 debut "Kiss The Goat" brings little to no surprises to the table insofar as its era is concerned, though it is perhaps a little atypical for a Swedish offering and a bit more indicative of a Norwegian character.

The notion that this album leans more in a death metal direction than otherwise are not without some basis, though is usually blown pretty well out of proportion. The dimensions of the album are a bit more rhythm section heavy than the typical 1991-1994 Norwegian take on the style, often times featuring prominent bass passages that are occasionally technical by comparison, and a drum sound that is louder and heavier than usual, almost to the point of sounding like a thrash drummer playing in a black metal band. The vocal lines of Thomas "Dark" Backelin are similarly caught between two worlds, sounding just as much like a mortified and high-pitched version of Chuck Schuldiner as that of a Norwegian screamer, though a heavy influence from Ihsahn is definitely there.